O Pedrouzo

Arca · O Pino

Camino Francés · Camino del Norte · Camino Primitivo

A Coruña · La CoruñaGalicia

Here Camino Francés, Camino del Norte and Camino Primitivo converge. It is one of the points where the pilgrim shares the way with those arriving by another route.

From the Galician pedrouzo 'pile of stones, stony terrain', derived from pedra (Latin petra) + augmentative suffix -ouzo. The parish is officially called O Pino, but the village core and the Camino stop bear the name of the stony landscape.

The suffix -ouzo is one of the most characteristic formants of Galician toponymy: an augmentative derivative giving the idea of size or abundance (fillouzo 'big son', tarambouzo 'big junk'). Over pedra 'stone', pedrouzo designates a terrain with abundant loose stones or a majano —⁠a pile of stones peasants piled up when clearing them from arable land⁠—⁠. The hamlet preserves several of these majanos in its surroundings, still visible. The official parish name, O Pino, refers to the pine or pinewood that historically covered the place; the main centre is still known by pilgrims as O Pedrouzo, its traditional name.

Evolution of the name

  1. Pedrouzo medieval Galician from the 12th century
  2. O Pedrouzo modern Galician from the 20th century

Reflections, to the letter

Look at the Camino's edge during the last kilometres before arriving: you'll see majanos, small pyramids of loose stones piled by peasants when clearing arable land. They are the miniature pedrouzos that named the place. It is the last stop before Santiago: whoever sleeps here, tomorrow enters the cathedral before noon.

Languages of origin

Themes

Origin status

confirmed

Glossary

Augmentative suffix
An ending that adds to a word the sense of 'large' or 'abundant'. In Galician, -ouzo is one of the most productive in toponymy (Pedrouzo, Pinouzo) and in everyday speech (fillouzo = 'big son').
Majano
A conical pile of stones that peasants of the Iberian northwest stacked when clearing them from arable land; marks property boundaries or, simply, the effort of generations to make stony terrain farmable.

Sources

  • Cabeza Quiles, F. — Os nomes da terra
  • Filgueira Valverde, X. — Toponimia gallega

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Camino Francés

  1. Santiago de Compostela
  2. Monte do Gozo
  3. Lavacolla
  4. O Pedrouzo
  5. Arzúa
  6. Ribadiso
  7. Castañeda
  8. Boente
  9. Melide
  10. Leboreiro
  11. ··· toward the start